EDITORIAL: Disaster recovery affecting Victoria school district tax rate

Aug. 05--Victoria school district is facing a real dilemma -- finding a way to continue to pay for repairs to the district's buildings without bankrupting the district while still providing top-quality education for its students.

The problem the district faces started with years of insufficient state funding but was intensified greatly by Hurricane Harvey almost a year ago, which caused more than $10 million in damages to the district's campuses and a loss of state funding because of the loss of students.

Until now, the district has depended on its fund balance to help pay for the repairs, but the fund has shrunk to a dangerously low level.

To help offset the cost of repairs and to begin rebuilding the fund balance to a state-recommended two months of operating reserves, the district is proposing raising the district's operating tax rate 13 cents per $100 of assessed valuation -- that is, for a home valued at $100,000, taxes would increase by $10.83 a month or about $130 a year before exemptions.

In addition, the district's overall appraised taxable values have fallen 3 percent or about $187 million, meaning if the tax rate stayed the same at $1.04, the district would still lose revenue and not make up the deficiencies.

The large increase will be only for the coming year. Under the state tax code, taxing entities under a disaster declaration are able to raise the taxes above the rollback rate for one year only to help the taxing entity recover from the disaster.

By state statute, the district cannot go above $1.17 tax rate for its operating budget.

We understand the district needs to balance its budget, pay for repairs so it can educate students and rebuild its fund balance, which has taken a big hit paying for repairs.

But before the district sets the new tax rate, we ask the district to keep in mind the very people whose taxes will increase are also recovering from Hurricane Harvey. Many are still repairing their homes or are in temporary homes until theirs can be rebuilt or repaired.

The $10 extra a month the higher tax rate may cost may not sound like much, but it adds up quickly for people who are living paycheck to paycheck trying to get their lives back to a new normal.

We also ask the district to look hard within its own $115 million budget and at its programs to make sure every avenue of savings has been taken. We are not going to suggest programs that need to be looked at; it is up to the district to decide where the savings can come from.

At the same time, we ask the district to work extremely hard with the district's insurance company and state and federal disaster relief organizations to make sure the district recoups every cent it possibly can. We ask that it continue to seek all the available grants offered by the Texas Education Agency and U.S. Department of Education.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Land Commissioner George P. Bush have touted the General Land office's response to Hurricane Harvey. We've seen little evidence of this relief so far in Victoria. This is where the state could step to the fore and truly help the school district and Victoria with recovery money.

Of the $10 million in damages, the district has received only $1.177 million in insurance reimbursement. Almost a year after the worst disaster to hit this part of the coast in more than 50 years, the reimbursement is taking far too long to happen.

The insurance companies need to be more forthcoming with payments because the district cannot afford to be reimbursed this slowly and remain viable.

When the hurricane hit, we knew the road to recovery would be long, but we expected to be further along with claim payments from insurance. That way, FEMA and the state agencies could pitch in to assist with the recovery not covered by insurance without putting such a huge burden on the taxpayers who are also still recovering.

We know the school district is serious about its responsibility to students and parents.

At the same time, we know the district has some hard decisions to make in the coming weeks. We are confident school board members will make the right decisions.

This opinion reflects the views of the Victoria Advocate's editorial board.

___

(c)2018 Victoria Advocate (Victoria, Texas)

Visit Victoria Advocate (Victoria, Texas) at www.victoriaadvocate.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.